1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of geo-location and geo-route-enabled software. More specifically, the present invention relates to establishing a virtual perimeter (geo-fence) around a geographic location or route, and enabling an alert to a user based on the user's location relative to the geographic location or route.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many modern smartphones are equipped with digital maps, global position systems, and navigation software. Typically, that functionality resides in a 3rd party application program that has been installed on the device. While there are various 3rd party geo-location, geo-fence and geo-route applications available to install on such mobile electronic devices, the functionality of these applications is severely limited because the operating system used by those devices does not support geo-aware functions necessary for those programs to operate at maximum efficiency.
While there are some simple geo-fencing capabilities built into IOS today, that functionality is limited to primitive functions such as opening a reminder when a geo-fence is crossed. For instance, the iOS on the Apple iPhone or the OS on an Android phone do not support the ability for a user to manipulate settings corresponding to a geo-route or to set a geo-fence around a Wi-Fi beacon. The same is true for available tablet and notebook computers. Thus, the operating system of these devices provide little to no support for geo-aware functionality. Instead, a user must first install an application, and then turn that application on every time they wish to perform a geo-aware function. Thus, the lack of geo-aware functions being integrated into the operating system causes user frustration at best or provides the user with suboptimal performance. Since 3rd party applications must be initiated by a user, and because 3rd party applications are easily and often disabled by these types of devices automatically, a user who wishes to frequently use geo-aware functions may be annoyed by having to initiate an application frequently.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for improved systems and methods of integrating geo-location, geo-fence, and geo-route functionality into the operating system of these devices more completely.